TECHNICAL DATA

Technical Product Information

What We Do – Fine Wire Manufacturing

At Luma Wire Tech, we specialize in manufacturing ultra-fine wires from 4 to 300 microns, engineered for the most demanding applications. On this page you will find comprehensive fine wire technical product information and fine wire technical specifications covering our tungsten, molybdenum, and tungsten-rhenium wires. Depending on your requirements, wires are delivered cleaned or plated—with gold, nickel, silver, or platinum coatings available. Every spool, from a few hundred to several thousand meters, is produced under strict quality standards to ensure reliability in industries such as medical devices, electronics, aerospace, and advanced research.

Why Luma Customer Use Molybdenum Wire

This section of our fine wire technical product information explains why molybdenum is chosen for high-temperature and lightweight applications

This silvery metal has the sixth highest melting point among all metals, at 2,623°C. Its resistance to heat without expansion or softening makes it ideal for high-pressure, high-temperature applications.

Molybdenum wire is sometimes preferred over tungsten due to its lower density—about half that of tungsten—while still offering a high strength-to-weight ratio. Its light weight and high ductility make it the top choice for mesh wire in satellite antennas, a fact highlighted in our fine wire technical specifications. This application specifically requires gold-plated molybdenum wire.

Gold-plated molybdenum is also used in electronics. Besides corrosion resistance, the gold layer improves electrical contact and solder wettability – an important detail in our fine wire technical specifications  . Common uses include connectors and electronic tubes.

Why Luma Customer Use Tungsten Wire

Tungsten has the highest melting point of all metals at 3,422°C, making it ideal for demanding applications like light bulb filaments, rocket nozzles, and electrodes. As detailed in our fine wire technical product information, tungsten wire is also widely used in medical imaging and aerospace due to its density and X-ray visibility.

Its high density (19.25 g/cm³) allows for excellent absorption of radiation and X-rays, which is why it’s often used in medical guide wires for X-ray visibility.

With the lowest vapor pressure and thermal expansion of any pure metal, tungsten excels in power electronics and extreme environments such as jet propulsion applications frequently covered in our fine wire technical specifications. Above 1,650°C, it also has the highest tensile strength of any metal.

Gold plating on tungsten wire improves oxidation resistance and solderability, a feature emphasized in our technical product information for advanced industries. This makes it suitable for nuclear detectors, digital printing, medical devices, and technical textiles—any field requiring high stability and heat resistance.

Do you want to discuss technical features with our Technology Team?

Materials Overview

The following table presents key specifications of tungsten, molybdenum, and tungsten-rhenium wires. These values are part of Luma’s official fine wire technical product information, provided to ensure engineers and researchers can select the right wire for their application.

 

Base materialDiameter range** [µm]PurityUTS [N/mm2]Rp 0,01* [N/mm2]Elongation [%]Surface treatment
Tungsten doped with K (W/K)4 – 300Min 99,95%W
60-65 ppm K
2600 – 35001000 – 20001,5 – 3Electroetching
Electropolishing
Electroplating
Tungsten W (Re-3%) Available Soon4 – 300Min 97% W
3% Re
2700 – 39001000 – 20001 – 2,5Electroetching
Electropolishing
Electroplating
Molybdenum ILQ doped with 0,03 % La2O310 – 300Min 99,9% Mo 0,03%  La2O32100 – 2400700 – 14001 – 2Electroetching
Electroplating
ILQ Mo – after hydrogen annealing straightening10 – 300Min 99,9% Mo 0,03% La2O31700 – 2000600 – 12001 – 2Electroetching
Electroplating
Pure Mo – annealed10 – 300Min 99,97% Mo700 – 900600 – 900≥ 10%Electroetching
Electroplating

*) Elongation automatically calculated by the software of the Tensile Strength machine.
**) Maximum plating diameter is approx. 200 μm.

Tungsten doped with potassium (W/K 60ppm)

  • High density – absorbs radiation effectively (radiation shielding – (X-rays, gamma rays, particle accelerators)
  • Tungsten offers high tensile strength, hardness and high wear resistance even at low dimensions  (cutting tools & wear-resistant coatings)
  • Moderate conductivity
  • Good stability and creep resistance
  • The highest melting point of all metals (extreme heat applications)
  • High resistance to oxidation and corrosion

Molybdenum (Mo) ILQ doped with 0,03 % La2O3

  • Excellent for high-temperature use high melting point (lower than W but still heat-resistant)
  • Molybdenum offers high tensile strength, hardness, and wear resistance while maintaining a lower density than W (Aerospace and lightweight high-temperature applications)
  • Moderate corrosion resistance good conductivity (Semiconductors & Electronics)
AbbreviationExplanation
AASAtomic Absorption Spectroscopy
AuGold
EEtched
EDSEnergy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy
KPotassium
La2O3Lanthanum (III) oxide
LOMLight Optical Microscopy
MoMolybdenum
Mo-ILQMicrodoped molybdenum alloy with a lanthanum oxide
N/mm2Newton per Square Millimeter
NiNickel
PPolished
ppmparts per million
R&DResearch and Development
ReRhenium
Rp0,01Point of plastical change (non-reversible) in wire structure under stress
RTRoom Temperature
SEMScanning Electron Microscope
UTSUltimate Tensile strength
WTungsten
W/KTungsten doped with Potassium
W/ReTungsten alloyed with Rhenium
µmmicrometers

 

Material Properties

Material Properties of W/K – 60ppm compared to W/Re

PropertyW/K – 60ppm
Thermal conductivity+
Tensile strength and hardness
High-temperature stability / Creep resistance
Recrystallization temperature
Workability/formability
Corrosion resistance
Wear resistance+
Ductility
Electron work function
Electrical resistance
≈ comparable, + higher, – lower than W/Re.  

W/Re

  • Electron work function is higher than W/K – 60ppm
  • Electrical resistance is higher than W/K – 60ppm
  • Ductility is higher than W/K – 60ppm
  • Lower thermal conductivity than W/K – 60ppm
  • Applications: e.g.: materials for electron scattering, nuclear reaction studies, neutron diffraction

Material Properties doped Molybdenum (ILQ 0.03% La2O3 Mo) compared to Pure Mo.

Property ILQ Mo
Thermal and electrical conductivity
Tensile strength+
Stability at RT
High-temperature stability / Creep resistance+
Recrystallization temperature+
Ductility after High-temperature use+
Elongation 
Elongation compared to annealed Pure Mo
≈ 
Weldability +

≈ comparable, + higher, – lower than pure Mo.

Application areas

General examples of Application areas of the wires

Our fine wire technical product information outlines a wide range of applications, from aerospace and medical technology to semiconductors and advanced R&D.

  • Antenna-mesh for Space Satellite systems
  • Particle accelerators: Detector Technology
  • Electronics: Semiconductors and integrated circuit testing; connectors; wire bonding – details of these applications are specified in our fine wire technical specifications.
  • Power Electronics /Batteries (Pseudocapacitors /Super condensators)
  • Medical: Guide Wires – radiopaque visibility; Medical wires for components used for brain stimulation and neuronal studies; Surgical robots; Stents; Catchers and Baskets – all critical areas where our technical product information ensures compliance with the strictest safety standards.
  • Military and Defense (Detectors, Sensors, Satellite systems)
  • Musical Strings
  • Catalysis: Catalyst in petroleum refining and hydrogenation
  • Critical infrastructure security: Detector Technology
  • Technical textiles / E- Textiles
  • Wire bonding technology
  • Energy: sensors and high temperature applications
  • Cutting technology tools
  • Specialty lighting (furnace components and lamp
    components)
  • Research and Development and Scientific high-precision instrumentation
  • Digital printing and 3D printing
 

These application areas highlight how versatile Luma’s wires are, and why engineers worldwide rely on our technical product information to select the right solution for their projects.

Gold and Nickel Coatings / Surface finishing

Coatings /Surface finishing

  • Electroplating: Reel to reel
  • Coatings: Gold, Nickel in Cyanide matrix as a strike or final plating.
  • Coating thickness: Customizing according to customer demands
  • Surfaces: polished (smooth), semi-polished and etched (less smooth).
  • Different coating formulas: adhesion and porosity might be adjusted with different formulas. (The higher the coating thicknesses the better coverage and less pores).
Polished surface
Close-up of the edged surface of an ultra-thin precision wire engineered by Luma Wire Tech for high-performance applications.

Etched surface

Gold

Characteristics

  • Excellent corrosion resistance
  • Does not tarnish or oxidize
  • Easily shaped
  • Best malleability and ductility
  • Highly conductive
  • Biocompatible
  • Compact, soft, shiny and most chemically inert known metal

Pure gold soft
According to MIL standard (2007): Type III (min 99.9 % purity); Grade A (max 90 Knoop).

Gold – increased hardness
According to MIL standard (2007): Type III (min 99.9 % purity); Grade B (max 91-129 Knoop).

MaterialDimension < 50 µmDimension > 50 µm
W/K & W-Re wireCoating thickness corresponds to 3 – 5% by weight as standard0.5 µm an standard
Mo wireCoating thickness corresponds to 3 – 5% by weight as standard0.5 µm an standard

Nickel

Characteristics

  • Strike – act as a primer/pre-plating of a thin layer to add to a base material to achieve good adhesion between polished tungsten and gold.

Quality Material Analysis/Lab Testing

As part of our comprehensive fine wire technical product information, we also provide full details of our in-house quality analysis and lab testing capabilities.

  • Unique procedural competences
  • Microscopy: surface appearances: determine microstructure, surface defects, morphology and elemental composition
    • Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
    • Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS)
    • Light Optical Microscopy (LOM)

Each of these methods ensures that the properties listed in our fine wire technical specifications are verified and consistent across every batch.

  • Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) – spectro- analytical procedure for the quantitative measurement of chemical elements.
  • 3D VIEW software: surface roughness values
  • Adhesion metrologies
  • Climate chamber/Furnace – determine corrosion behavior and porosity
  • TS testing tool:: ductility, brittleness, elongation, UTS, proportionality limit
  • Straightness measurement
  • Laser sensor – determine dimension, ovality, coating thickness

By integrating advanced testing tools with detailedfine wire technical product information, Luma guarantees wires that meet the strictest industry requirements for safety and performance.

 

Research and Development

  • Materials and Electrochemical Research.
  • Participation in customer process development projects.
  • Tailor-made process forthe customer
  • Participation in international projects and national founded projects.
  • Collaboration with Universities and Research Institutes.
  • Literature research & Co-authors of scientific articles.

Please contact us if you have questions regarding our plating features and technology processes!

W / K

FormulationExamples of Application areasPros/Cons
W – Etched – Pure gold softPrinters, Antennas, Instruments, Medical, Particle accelerators Good adhesion
W – Polished – Pure gold softParticle accelerators, Research, DetectorsLimited adhesion. Can be used in the application where there is no mechanical impact on the wire
W – Etched – Gold increased hardnessAntennas, Research, Medical, Particle accelerators, Electronics, Scientific engineeringGood adhesion,
Increased wear resistance
W – Polished – Nickel – Gold increased hardnessMedical Research, MedicalImproved adhesion, Increased wear resistance

W / Re

FormulationExamples of Application areasPros/Cons
W / Re – Etched – Pure gold softResearch institute, Particle accelerators, Nuclear Research, Detector Technology Good adhesion
W / Re – Polished – Pure gold softParticle accelerators Limited adhesion
W / Re – Polished – Nickel –Gold increased hardnessResearch, Printing, Antennas, DetectorsImproved adhesion,
Increased wear resistance
W – Etched –  Gold increased hardness DetectorsGood adhesion,
Increased wear resistance

Mo

FormulationExamples of Application areasPros/Cons
Mo – Etched – Pure gold softAntennas, Research, MicrochipsGood adhesion
Mo – Etched – Gold increased hardnessAntennas, Research, Medical, E-textiles

Good adhesion, Increased wear resistance

Mo – Etched – Nickel – Gold increased hardnessAntennasGood adhesion,
Increased wear resistance
Fine wire technical product information. Gold-plated tungsten wire

FAQ – Fine Wire Technical Product Information

What diameters are available for Luma fine wires?
From 4 to 300 microns, with custom plating thicknesses on request.

Which base materials are used?
Primarily tungsten, molybdenum, and tungsten-rhenium alloys, with optional silver and copper.

What plating options are offered?
Standard plating is gold and nickel, with additional options including silver, palladium, and platinum.

What industries use Luma’s fine wires?
Medical, aerospace, defense, electronics, space technology, and advanced R&D.

What does Luma’s fine wire technical product information include?
Our fine wire technical product information covers base materials such as tungsten, molybdenum, and tungsten-rhenium, along with detailed specifications on diameters, tensile strength, coatings, and plating options.

Why is fine wire technical product information important for engineers?
Engineers rely on fine wire technical product information to ensure the wires they choose meet strict performance and compliance requirements in industries such as aerospace, medical technology, electronics, and defense.

How does Luma guarantee accuracy in fine wire technical product information? All data in our fine wire technical product information is backed by extensive lab testing, including SEM, EDS, tensile strength analysis, and surface inspections. This guarantees consistent quality and reliable performance for every spool.

Can I request custom specifications not listed in the fine wire technical product information? Yes. Luma provides tailor-made wire solutions, and our Technology Team can adapt dimensions, coatings, and finishes beyond what is documented in the fine wire technical product information.

Is Luma Wire Tech ISO certified? Yes. Luma Wire Tech operates under strict quality management systems and is certified according to ISO,  ensuring that our fine wire technical product information aligns with international standards for safety, traceability, and reliability.

 

Partner With Luma Wire Tech

Do you want to discuss details from our fine wire technical product information with our Technology Team? Contact us today for tailored guidance